Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

DuBois column

Donald Trump,
Donald Trump, Jr., Ryan Zinke and the future of The West

The Zinke Zone

Disappointment.
Relief. Near elation. Disappointment.

Those
are the gamut of my emotions with Donald Trump winning the Republican
nomination for President, Trump winning the general election and Trump
nominating Ryan Zinke for Secretary of Interior.

Let
me explain.

The
political stars were lining up for a tremendous historical moment – the transfer
of significant amounts of federal land to the states. With the issue on the
front burner and Republican control of all three branches of government, one
could see the light at the end of a dark, dark tunnel. Then the Republicans
nominated the only candidate in the primary who opposed such a transfer, thus
the disappointment.

However,
relief was still felt with Trump’s victory in the general election. I’m not
sure the West, as we know it, would have survived eight years of Hillary, or a
total of sixteen years of environmental onslaught.

Surprisingly,
with word leaking to the press that U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers would be
nominated for Secretary of Interior, came near elation. She was a supporter of
the transfer of lands, having cosponsored legislation to transfer lands already
identified by the Bureau of Land Management for disposal.

The
smile was quickly wiped from my face when the actual nominee was U.S. Rep. Ryan
Zinke, an avowed opponent of such a transfer. So much so that he actually
resigned his position on the Republican Platform Committee because it contained
the following statement:

The federal government owns or controls over 640 million
acres of land in the United States, most of which is in the West. These are
public lands, and the public should have access to them for appropriate
activities like hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. Federal ownership
or management of land also places an economic burden on counties and local
communities in terms of lost revenue to pay for things such as schools, police,
and emergency services. It is absurd to think that all that acreage must remain
under the absentee ownership or management of official Washington. Congress
shall immediately pass universal legislation providing for a timely and orderly
mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally
controlled public lands to states. We call upon all national and state leaders
and representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the
transfer of those lands, identified in the review process, to all willing
states for the benefit of the states and the nation as a whole. The residents
of state and local communities know best how to protect the land where they
work and live. They practice boots-on-the-ground conservation in their states
every day.

Notice
the statement refers to only “certain” federal lands. That’s because most
proposals would leave all military posts and Native American reservations in
federal hands, along with all National Parks, Monuments, Wilderness and
Wilderness Study Areas. And yet, he resigned.

Notice
also the statement refers to “willing” states. The transfers would only occur
in those states who wanted the transfer to happen. If Zinke’s home state of
Montana preferred the lands remain federal, then no transfer would occur. And
yet, he resigned, denying that opportunity to other states.

Notice
also the statement contains the Jeffersonian-influenced language that “state
and local communities know best how to protect the land where they work and
live.” Zinke must think otherwise, as he resigned. The DC Deep Thinkers have an ally.

Conservative Conservationist?

In
April of 2016, Zinke authored an opinion piece for the Billings Gazette titled A Conservative Case For Conservation. Therein
he opined:

Being a
conservative and being a conservationist are not mutually exclusive. It’s
conservative principles that drive my commitment to conservation… Party leaders
and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on conservation issues, but they always know
where I stand. Selling off our public lands is a non-starter. I’ve voted
against budget resolutions and bucked party leadership on more than a couple
occasions to defend our lands.

Zinke says it is “conservative principles” that drive his conservation.Please show me the conservative principle
that says we should have a government large enough to control almost one out of
every three acres in our country. Show me the conservative principle that
endorses central planning by the feds over state, local and private planning.
Furthermore, Zinke has supported legislation to permanently fund the Land &
Water Conservation fund (for federal land acquisition). I’m waiting to see the
conservative principle that calls for expanding the size and influence of the
central government.

Shot down by hunters

If one seeks to determine why Trump has adopted this policy and nominated someone
like Zinke, one is invariably led to Donald Trump, Jr.

Trump,
Jr. is a long-time member of the NRA, is the youngest person ever voted into
the Boone & Crockett Club, and has hunted all over the world. His father,
now the President, has said his son would make a great Secretary of Interior. "The big joke at Christmas this year was that the only
job in government that I would want is with the Department of Interior,"
Trump Jr. told Wide Open Spaces.
"I understand these issues. It's something I'm passionate about. I will be
the very loud voice about these issues in my father's ear. No one gets it more
than us." Trump, Jr. opposes the transfer of lands, just as do the elite
hunting organizations, and a source from the Interior transition team told CNN “balancing
the Trump siblings' natural inclinations toward conservation has been a key
factor in the search for someone to run the Interior Department.”

I recall that not long after
receiving my appointment to the Dept. of Interior the NRA called and invited me
to have lunch with them. There had been some controversy over using BLM lands
for shooting ranges during the Carter administration, and I figured that would
be their main concern. There are two things about that lunch meeting I vividly
remember. First, I wasn’t all that impressed with the wild rice and some kind
of duck that was served up. And second, the first issue they brought up was not
shooting ranges, but what could be done about livestock grazing that was
harming wildlife habitat all over the West.

These hook and bullet boys are not
our friends.They support Wilderness,
the Endangered Species Act, and continued federal retention and control of
natural resources. Their idea of multiple use is to have multiple hunting
seasons on their special, preserved, federal lands.

The irony here is that Trump was
portrayed as an outsider who would shake up “the establishment.” When it comes
to Interior, he has instead reached out to the Republican old guard and handed
them the keys to the castle.

Trump tinker toys

Why do I put so much emphasis on the
land transfer issue? Because I believe it is our only chance to keep these
lands productive and of value to local communities and the West in general. The
current model of federal ownership, control and management will be most
influenced by groups with the largest membership, the most money, the largest law
firms, and the most offices in D.C. And that, my friends, ain’t the cowboys.

Instead of a major change on the
range, we can look forward to four years of tinkering. Tinkering with the
grazing regulations, with the policy manuals, and possibly some of the
Executive Orders. There will be calls for more “collaboration”, for solutions
that involve “all stakeholders” and other such nonsense. No major changes, and
nothing that can’t be changed by the next administration.

I’ve been down that road before and
I’ve come to realize that it is playing the establishment’s game, and the game
is rigged in their favor.

The possibility for permanent,
positive change was there, but appears to have been “trumped” by the existing
power structure. There will be no “draining of the swamp” at Interior. Quite
the contrary. And that brings great sadness to my heart.

Till next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget
to check that cinch.

Frank
DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of
a blog: The Westerner (www.thewesterner.blogspot.com) and is the founder of The DuBois Rodeo Scholarship
and The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

We've got to get rid of the Eco-extremists from .gov agencies. By their own writings they were ushered in, getting federal, state, county jobs, during the jimmy Carter administration. There really is a eco-socialist enviromental agenda. Earth1st, Sierra Club, Monkey Wrench Gang, Eco Warriors, Center for Biological Diversity, even NMWF, and many more.Their edicts on environmentalism permeate education, schools, cartoons,news media, TV, movies, children's books and toys. So when young people go for careers in say the NRA, guess what they bring with them. Even if they have a good grasp of the 2nd Amendment.Ranches put in conservation easement trusts or become buffalo ranches take out a huge tax base from counties, irretrievable that others have to make up. Look around; Cowboys and no cattle.Americans don't need division like 0bama has done to the races.

I too am disappointed in Zinkes' nominatiopn. Will this also mean that we may not get reform in the Endangered Species Act? Will he oppose any reform attempts?I brought up the issue of transfer of public lands before the NM demoncrat "Job creation" listening tour and asked them to support a study of the costs and benefits of transfer of public lands such as the State of Utah had commissioned. Blank stares!I pointed out that the legislators desire to increase revenues to the state through diversified sources and that ownership of the public lands would generate revenue for the state through such things as reviving the timber industry. I mentioned the PERC report that showed for every $1 the feds spend on federal land they lose $1.70. On the other hand, the NM State Land Office returns $14 for every $1 spent. Blank stares!!

I'm a cowboy and I am also a shooter. But, I have always said that I do not support the NRA for the same reason I do not support the NAACP. They both uphold certain parts of the Constitution but dump on others.

This also confirms a long feeling that there is not a dime's worth of difference in any of them. All the demopublicans and the republicrats ever argue over is how they want to spend the stolen money.

Transferring these lands to the States would be a great improvement but would not necessarily be the best ultimate end.

As is apparent in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, America was founded on the Philosophy of John Locke who explained the process of the creation of "property rights." If a man finds a previously unclaimed resource (no "squatters" allowed) and mixes his labor (Locke's term was "sweat") with it, the resulting product is an extension of him and is, therefore, his property.

These lands need to be returned to their rightful owners (and/or their heirs and assigns)-- the families who have 4 or 5 generations of sweat equity in the lands (or those who have rightfully purchased those property rights through voluntary exchange).

The BLM land should have been transferred years ago, like it was in the Eastern half of the USA. Prosperity comes from Private ownership. If Trump truly wants to make the USA great again then he should facilitate the transfer.

I live in the Eastern Half of the USA. I do not like the fact that the US Taxpayer has to fund what is referred to as "Payment in lieu of Taxes" to the Counties in the Western Half of the USA. If Trump desires to cut unnecessary Federal Spending then he should help transfer the BLM land to the States.